


The Best Christmas Gift

by hockeylvr59 (gleefanatic)



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:47:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleefanatic/pseuds/hockeylvr59
Relationships: Jakob Chychrun/Reader
Kudos: 5





	The Best Christmas Gift

_It’s the most wonderful time of the year_

_There’ll be much mistltoeing_

_And hearts will be glowing_

_When loved ones are near_

_It’s the most wonderful time of the year_

Unconsciously, your fingers pressed the buttons on the steering wheel to switch radio stations. 

_I’ll have a blue Christmas without you_

_I’ll be so blue just thinking about you_

_Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree_

_Won’t be the same, dear, if you’re not here with me_

Groaning, you just turned the radio off, letting silence fill the car. Today was one of those days where every song that came on the radio felt like a personal attack and while part of you wanted to throw up, another fought to blink back tears. 

As you pulled into your parents’ driveway, you noted that there were no lights, no decorations, nothing that screamed Christmas was only three days away. It was just another reminder of how shitty life could be. You weren’t even supposed to be here, you were supposed to be at a cabin in the mountains with your fiance and his family. The plans had been made back in July and when you’d told your parents, they had booked a trip to Alaska, a trip they had been wanting to go on for years. They’d left for that trip last week, a mere 48 hours before your world crumbled around you. 

You’d been out to dinner when your fiance Nick had asked for the ring back, declaring that he no longer wanted to get married, his expression so nonchalant, so unwilling to acknowledge that he was currently ripping your heart from your chest and stomping on it. You’d screamed, you’d cried, you’d made a hell of a scene but his mind was made up and so you left the restaurant leaving both the ring and the man you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with behind. 

To make matters worse, you’d moved in with him when you’d gotten engaged and now, your childhood home was the only place you could turn. Nick had told you that you could stay in the apartment while he was in the mountains with his family but how were you supposed to sleep in the bed you’d shared, sit on the couch you’d watched so many movies together on knowing that all of it was a lie. Instead, you’d packed your bags, grabbing as much as you could and mentally saying screw the rest. 

As you finally shut off your car, you couldn’t help but muse that this was certainly going to be the suckiest Christmas yet. At least your parents had a heated pool and December temperatures in Florida meant that you could spend the next week working on a tan. Though your life had crumbled, at least by the time you went back to work you could at least look like you had your shit together. 

Slamming your car door shut, you moved to open the trunk when a familiar voice reached your ears. 

“Y/N! What are you doing here? You know your mom and dad are in Alaska right now right?” Nancy Chychrun was one of the sweetest women you had ever known and as she walked across the space between your driveways you felt the mask you were trying to hold in place start to slip. 

“Yeah, I know. I’m just going to hang out here by myself for a while.” You replied, rubbing your hands up and down your arm. 

“What happened to…?” Nancy started to question, her eyes going wide as she caught a glimpse of your now barren ring finger. “Oh, sweetheart.” She cooed, stepping forward to wrap you up in a big hug. Letting yourself bask in the motherly touch you’d been craving since the other night, you wrapped your arms around her in return, hugging tightly. When she pulled away she wiped the tears from your cheek before sending you a knowing look. “Well, we all know he’s an idiot.” She declared, her hands cupping your cheeks to ensure that you were alright. 

It was only as you were staring past her shoulder that you noticed their car was also open, being loaded up with suitcases. 

“We’re going to Arizona to have Christmas with Jakob.” She explained. “And you know what…you’re coming with us.” 

“Oh no…I couldn’t.” You immediately reacted, stepping back. “Truly I’ll be fine. Some time to decompress alone will be good for me.” You explained. 

“Y/N. You are not spending Christmas alone.” Nancy pressed. “We already have an extra plane ticket. One of Taylor’s friends was supposed to join us but had a last-minute change of plans. It’s no bother at all to swap the names and I insist.” 

If there was one thing you had learned about Nancy over the years was that she was certainly a mama bear and when she got something into her head, she wasn’t going to let it drop until you agreed. 

“I’m not…my suitcases are a mess and…” You murmured, opening your trunk. 

“Well, then I guess you better go rearrange them. We leave in an hour.” Her hand squeezed yours and she turned back, yelling up toward the house for Jeff to pull up the flight information to edit Erin’s ticket to reflect your name. 

_____

A little over six hours later you were disembarking from the flight into the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport feeling like some of the weight on your shoulders had been lifted. From the moment you’d stepped into your parents’ house, Taylor Chychrun had started texting you a list of a million things to bring with you. While you’d finally lugged your bag downstairs and into the Chychrun’s car, Jeff had started rambling about how good it was to see you and how excited they all were that you were joining them. The rambling was a good distraction from the depths of your brain and it lasted until you reached the airport. Then, the moment the plane had taken off, Taylor had insisted on sharing a pair of headphones as she put on a cheesy Christmas movie and it wasn’t long before her commentary had you nearly rolling in laughter. It had been far too long since you had spent any time with the Chychrun’s and maybe Nancy was right. You needed to be around people and the Chychrun’s were some of the best. You honestly hadn’t realized how much you missed them. 

And there was one member of the family, in particular, who you missed without even knowing it. 

You had just pulled your bag from the baggage carousel when you heard Taylor squeal out her brother’s name. By the time you turned around, both Nancy and Taylor had their arms wrapped around Jakob’s lean frame and a second later Jeff was hugging him as well. As the family moved to gather their bags, your eyes met blue and for a moment you felt like you couldn’t breathe. 

“Y/N…” Jakob greeted, surprise filling his voice as numerous emotions flicked across his face. “I…I didn’t know you were coming.” He whispered, though his body stepped forward to lean down and wrap around yours in a strong but gentle hug. “It’s good to see you.” He murmured softly in your ear and immediately you knew that he was being completely sincere. 

“It was a last-minute change of plans.” You admitted. “But your mom insisted I come and it’s really good to see you too.” Jakob’s smile was warm as he pulled away and immediately reached for your bag. “I can…” You started but quickly gave in when he sent you a look, one he had very clearly learned from his mom. “Thank you.” You corrected, looking over to see that the rest of the Chychrun’s had gathered their bags and were ready to leave the airport. 

As you sat in the back seat of Jakob’s SUV you tried to but couldn’t remember the last time Nick had ever carried one of your bags for you. It was such a small thing but it made you miss your broken relationship just a little bit less. 

_____

You’d spent the evening hours that first night curled up on the outdoor couch in Jakob’s backyard with a glass of wine in hand as you watched the flames flicker in the gas fireplace. Though you chipped in on the conversation occasionally, for the most part, you just sat and observed the family dynamics going on around you. As you watched Jakob laugh and be ribbed by his dad and sister, your brain popped up with that nagging reminder that Nick’s family had never been this laid back, made you feel this comfortable. Still, you occasionally caught yourself fiddling with your barren ring finger, mimicking the action of spinning your engagement ring around it. You hadn’t realized anyone noticed but a few minutes after everyone else headed inside for bed, Jakob returned with a fresh glass of wine for you and sat next to you, his thigh pressed against your knee. 

“Can I uh…can I ask what happened?” He inquired, the calmness of his voice settling deep in your bones. “If you don’t want to talk about it that’s cool but uh…you keep fiddling with your ring finger and I can’t help but notice your engagement ring is missing.” It didn’t surprise you that Jakob knew you’d been engaged, not with the way your moms gossiped. And though it shouldn’t, for some reason it did surprise you that he cared enough to ask about it. Downing another long sip of wine you debated whether you wanted to share the details but the feeling of Jakob’s warm hand on your knee pushed you to start talking. 

You rambled on about how you hadn’t seen it coming, how you thought things were going well. You complained about how he’d done it in public, making you look like a completely crazy woman. You cried softly as you talked about how now you suddenly felt like you weren’t good enough, had never been good enough, and then before Jakob could jump in and stop your negative thoughts, you admitted that maybe you hadn’t truly been happy either. 

Jakob just sat and listened, he’d always been a good listener…you couldn’t say the same about Nick…before he draped his arm over your shoulder and pulled you against the side of his body. 

“Can I be honest?” He whispered, his fingers tangling in your hair. 

“Of course.” You agreed though you were anxious to hear what he had to say. 

“He wasn’t good enough for you,” Jakob stated. “I know you cared about him…loved him even…” He paused for a moment. “But your smile never reached your eyes when you were with him.” Maybe you imagined it because of the wine, but you could have sworn you felt Jakob’s breath hitch as he leaned in to kiss the top of your head. “So this may not be what you wanted or expected but I’m relieved…because I just want to see you happy, truly happy Y/N.” 

Sitting, curled into Jakob’s side you sat and watched the fire flicker back and forth, his thumb rubbing lazily against your upper arm. 

At the same time, a fire was starting to flicker inside of you, long-forgotten embers slowly being stoked to life. 

_____

You weren’t sure if it was the insanely comfortable mattress, the wine, or the feeling of Jakob’s arms wrapped around your waist as he hugged you goodnight, but you fell asleep almost instantly and didn’t stir until the sun was peeking through the windows. As you pushed the sleep from your body, you pondered over the fact that you couldn’t remember the last time you had slept that well. 

After breakfast, you had bugged Jakob about where the best local shopping was and then dragged Taylor out with you to buy presents despite everyone’s protests. Your raised eyebrow when you accused Nancy of trying to talk you out of shopping while knowing she was going to make sure there were presents for you was enough to get her to back off and after a few successful hours, you had a set of small presents for each member of the Chychrun family. 

You snuck into your guest room to wrap them before changing into your swimsuit and heading down to spend some time at Jakob’s pool. As you lounged with Taylor, working on your tans, you occasionally felt a pair of eyes on you that made you shiver. Eventually, Jakob pulled you into the pool with him, and for the first time since the break-up, you forgot about Nick completely. As dinner time approached, you pulled yourself away from where Jakob was bugging you in the pool and dried off, heading inside to see if you could help Nancy with dinner. 

Dinner was once again delicious, and you teased Nancy about how she was turning you into a lush with all of the wine. Conversation felt even more seamless than the night before and as you worked to clean up dishes, you felt Jakob pressing against your back as he reached up to put dishes away over your head. 

“You doin’ okay?” He whispered and when you nodded you felt him squeeze your hip, the heat of his fingers transferring quickly through the thin fabric of your sundress. The two of you danced around each other as you finished cleaning up and when you were done, he tugged you over to the piano sitting in his living room. “Mom wanted me to play and I think you should come and play with me.” 

“Jakob…that’s all you buddy…I haven’t…it’s been years.” You admitted. In fact, you had both been teenagers the last time you had touched piano keys. 

“It’s not exactly something you forget.” He insisted, sitting you down on the piano bench before sliding in beside you. “I’ll even give you the easy part.” He declared, bumping your shoulder with what would be his own if you were a little bit taller but was instead just his arm. Scanning both the music and the keys in front of you, you tried to remember but settled for resting your fingers on the key Jakob pointed you to, following his direction and what little natural musical talent you had to press your key at the appropriate time. 

By the second song, you just watched Jakob, who was such a natural at this that you knew he still took the time to practice. After playing a little mini-concert for his family, the two of you moved to join everyone else on the couches where Nancy was looking through photo albums. For the most part, she just showed them off to her kids but every once and a while she would draw your attention and point to a photo of you and Jakob. Sometimes you forgot about how close you once had been, and as you took in photos of you in Jakob’s jerseys over the years you felt waves of peace wash over you. 

By the time you headed to bed, your head was full of memories. 

And as you lay there, tossing and turning, those memories fed into the slowly growing fire deep inside you until tears were streaming down your cheeks. All at once, you remembered why you had even given Nick a second look in the first place. 

You were trying to get over your feelings for Jakob. 

For most of your teenage years, you’d had a schoolgirl crush of sorts on your neighbor and best friend. But then you got older, he got drafted into the NHL and your hopes of those feelings ever being requited vanished. You had just watched Jakob play his first NHL game when Nick approached you and honestly the rest was history. It wasn’t that you hadn’t liked Nick…but you certainly had never been in love with him…you just told yourself you were. You had settled for what you thought was attainable because you were afraid of truly being hurt by the man you considered unattainable. 

Now you were back at square one and this time you could feel yourself falling back into those feelings, falling rapidly in love with Jakob. 

Unable to sleep, you tiptoed downstairs and over to the piano, your path lit by the Christmas tree which twinkled, reflecting off the windows. Gently your fingers ran over the keys, not using any pressure for fear of waking someone. 

“Y/N…” A scratchy voice whispered and after jumping from being startled, you looked over to find Jakob walking toward you from the kitchen. “What are you doing up?” He asked. You hadn’t realized that you were still crying until Jakob was squatting beside the piano bench, his fingers brushing the tears off your cheeks. 

“I never loved him.” You admitted. Confusion filled Jakob’s face and he quietly stood, pulling you from the bench and over towards the tree that looked like it came straight off the cover of a magazine. 

“What do you mean?” Jakob questioned, his arms resting lightly on your hips as he tried to understand everything going through your head. 

“I never loved him.” You repeated. “I just told myself I did. Told myself he would have to be good enough.” Jakob started to speak but you shook your head needing to get it all out there. “But he never carried my bags. Opened my door. Brought me wine. I don’t think his family ever liked me much. They certainly never made me feel very welcome. And he…he never really listened. I never felt like he truly ever heard me. Like he truly ever even knew me. I…” This time it was Jakob who shut you up, his fingers flexing against your hips as he stepped closer. 

“Are you saying…? Fuck…please tell me you’re saying…” Jakob’s voice was rough with emotion and the Christmas lights caught his eyes in ways that made them send shivers down your spine. You weren’t surprised that he had picked up on how everything you’d mentioned was something he’d done, his family had done in the last 48 hours. “Please…” Jakob repeated, and you could feel how much he needed the answer. 

“I never loved him because he wasn’t you.” Jakob didn’t respond, and immediately you started questioning if that was even what he expected you to say, what he wanted you to say. “I…was so certain that you’d never feel the same that I went for something that I knew was actually attainable and I guess I was right on the first count but wrong on the latter…” 

A gasp spilled from your throat as Jakob crashed his lips onto yours, pulling you against his body for a deep and passionate kiss. Jakob kissed you until you had to pull away to breathe, and then as soon as you had caught your breath, he kissed you again. 

You weren’t sure how long you stood in front of the Christmas tree, Jakob’s hands and mouth trying to tell you all the things he had yet to say. But eventually, he paused, his forehead resting against yours as his fingers drifted to take your hands in his. 

“You just made my every Christmas wish for the last five years come true.” He breathed. “Fuck…I’ve been in love with you since I was like 16. I just didn’t know what love was. I’ve missed having you in my everyday life more than you know and I hope you know I’m not letting you go now. I know you have shit to work through, we have shit to work through but I promise you…the day I put a ring on your finger I am never going to ask for it back.” 

Jakob’s words, the certainty behind each and every one of them, stoked the teasing flames into an all-consuming inferno. You’d never imagined this day would ever come. But it had, and it was possibly the best Christmas gift you could ever receive. 

“I’m going to hold you to that promise.” You murmured, pressing your lips against Jakob’s once more. With his hands tangled in your hair, Jakob walked the two of you back to the couch, pulling you down to curl into his lap. It was there that you finally fell asleep for a few hours, waking to the feeling of Jakob’s lips against your neck. 

____

By the time his family made their way downstairs, you and Jakob had breakfast made and were sitting outside enjoying the warm Arizona Christmas Eve. As you basked under the sun’s rays, you thought about both your future and your past. To many, it might seem crazy that a week ago you were engaged to be married and now you were quickly falling head over heels for another man. To those that truly knew you, however, you were certain that it would come as no surprise. There was so much that you and Jakob needed to discuss but you could honestly and truly say that you were excited for what the future held. 

As you finished breakfast, you chatted with Nancy about all of the food preparations that needed made both for dinner tonight but also lunch and dinner tomorrow. It wasn’t long until you were elbow deep in recipes, working alongside Nancy and Taylor to make sure that everything was ready and needed as little effort as possible later. By the time preparations were finished, it was time to change for church and when you came down the stairs you felt Jakob’s eyes taking in the sight of you, the feeling holding a deeper meaning now. His hand rested against the small of your back as he guided you to the car and he dipped his head to whisper in your ear. 

“You look beautiful.” The deep color of his eyes signaled that there were words he wasn’t saying given the time and audience but it still made you fight back a blush knowing his thoughts weren’t all appropriate. 

Church was followed by dinner and board games before everyone retired to bed. Everyone but you and Jakob. Now dressed in loungewear, you made your way to where Jakob was seated on the couch, straddling over his lap as his hands fell to your hips. 

“Care to share what you were really thinking earlier…” You teased, your body responding with excitement to just the feeling of his eyes on you. 

“I was thinking there are things I want to do to you that I should definitely not be thinking on my way to church.” He replied, sealing his lips around yours in a kiss and sliding his tongue into your mouth as you gasped against him. “I probably also shouldn’t be thinking them with my parents and sister upstairs.” He added as he pulled back to breathe. 

“Think them.” You murmured, dropping your hips to rock against his. “Because I know I am.” Jakob groaned and allowed you to seek the friction of your hips on his for another moment before his hands forced you to stop. “J…” You whined, pouting as he laughed against your neck. 

“Trust me, baby…I want it too.” Jakob assured you. “But I want to take you on a date first.” He insisted. “And I certainly want to be able to hear every noise you make without worrying about being caught by my parents.” You knew he was right but that didn’t mean you had to be happy about it. “I’ve wondered what it would feel like to be inside you since I was 17…I can wait a little longer. And I swear I’ll make it worth your while.” 

“J…you can’t say things like that.” You grumbled now feeling even more turned on than you were when he first stopped you. 

“I’m sorry.” Jakob breathed, moving one hand to cup your face and pull you into a gentle kiss. For a moment, his remaining hand twitched on its spot against your hip before it moved quickly, shifting around your stomach to slide under the waistband of your pajamas. As his fingers slid between your slick folds you felt him break the kiss to murmur against your lips. “You gotta be quiet okay baby?” His fingers quickly found your swollen clit as he kissed you again, muffling your whimpers as you shifted your hips against his hand. Quickly, one long finger pressed inside of you before being joined by a second, and before you could even process just how quickly you were cumming on just his fingers, your orgasm crashed over your leaving you gasping quietly into his shoulder. 

As you caught your breath, Jakob removed his fingers, wiping them onto his sweats before his lips kissed your forehead. 

“Better baby?” He asked, a soft smirk on his face. All you could do was nod, the muscles in your thighs still twitching. 

“We’re gonna talk about that later.” You sighed, amazed at the fact that he hadn’t even hesitated in reading your body and providing you exactly what you needed. Not to mention that it was _**that**_ good. 

After a moment, Jakob had you cradled in his arms and had stood from the couch, heading for the stairs. 

“Now I think it’s time for bed. You know Santa won’t come if you’re still awake.” He joked. As he laid you down gently on the guest bed he kissed you once more, his fingers pushing a stray strand of hair away. “Merry Christmas Y/N. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

“Merry Christmas J…thank you.” Sated from your orgasm, from the feelings of being loved by Jakob, sleep once again came quickly as you snuggled into bed. 

______

Taylor was the one who woke you up in the morning, insisting that everyone was downstairs and ready to open presents. Cleaning yourself up a little from last night’s activities, you made your way downstairs a few minutes later to find presents now stacked neatly under the tree. The only spot available was beside Jakob on the couch and in front of the empty spot was a steaming mug. With a silent nod, Jakob confirmed it was for you and as Nancy handed out the first round of presents you took a sip, smiling at the fact that someone remembered that hot chocolate was the only appropriate beverage for Christmas morning.

In the first round, your present was from Nancy and Jeff and when you opened it you smiled and laughed when it was a wine pairing book. 

“You’re going to try and educate me yet.” You joked. “Thank you.” 

In the second round, you received a gift bag with bath bombs and body scrubs from Taylor and Jeff opened up some silly daily calendar that Taylor had helped you pick out. The third round you got some new nail polishes from Nancy and she opened the wine ice cubes that you had gotten for her. You continued around the room a few more times until you reached the final round. Taylor opened a romper you had picked out for her while she was in the bathroom and she immediately insisted she would have to go try it on as soon as you were done. Jakob opened a pair of swim trunks, he had complained about his old ones pretty much as soon as you arrived, and while he laughed his eyes met yours silently communicating that you had already given him the best gift just by being his. 

As his mom leaned over to hand you your last present, Jakob slid another one on top of it causing his family to raise their eyebrows. 

“Open the big one first.” He insisted and when you tore off the paper and opened the box, inside you found exactly what you had been expecting. Your fingers pulled the maroon fabric from the box and your heart beat faster as you examined the name and number. It had been so long since you’d worn one of Jakob’s jerseys and you absolutely couldn’t wait to put it on. 

“Thank you.” You breathed, trying not to cry as you leaned over to hug him quickly. He was smiling, but you could feel that he was nervous about the other package as you tore through the paper. With the paper tossed to the floor, you found yourself holding a small jewelry box. Glancing over at him you watched as he rubbed the back of his neck. Popping the lid to the box open, you revealed a small metal ring in the shape of a knot. With your breath caught from the statement he was making, you looked over at him again. 

“I uh…I thought your ring finger might be feeling a little bare.” He whispered. “It’s uh…it’s a promise ring, a promise to help you heal, a promise to explore everything we’ve both been feeling for so long, and a promise to someday replace this one with both a proper engagement ring and a wedding band so that that jersey will be your last name and not just mine.” You choked back a sob at everything that tiny band symbolized, trying to speak but unable to find words. “I got you a chain too..you know in case you aren’t ready to wear it as a ring…” He added. 

Finally, the simplest of phrases flew forth. 

“It’s perfect, J.” Offering him the box, you held your left hand out for him to slide the ring onto your finger. It fit perfectly and unlike your engagement ring which had never really felt like you, this looked like it was meant to be there. 

Laying your left hand onto his cheek, you leaned over again, pressing your lips to his in the sweetest of kisses. It wasn’t until you pulled away that you realized the show you’d just put on for his formerly in the dark family who was currently staring at the two of you from their spots around the living room. 

You honestly didn’t know what to say to them so when Nancy stood, beckoning you forward so that she could see the ring you felt your breath settle back into your chest. 

“Oh honey, it’s beautiful.” She exclaimed, her arms wrapping around your body in a secure hug. 

“Thank you.” You murmured. “Just thank you.” There weren’t enough words to express all that you were thankful for. For bringing the man you were falling in love with into the world, for insisting you come on this trip, for being so supportive even when you knew there were a lot of unanswered questions. 

“Of course…you’re family now aren’t you.” She smiled and at that moment you knew that this was what you wanted forever. 

Christmas truly was the most wonderful time of the year because it reunited you with the love of your life and expanded your heart with the love of his entire family. As Nancy and Taylor worked to serve breakfast, Jakob pulled you into his arms, kissing you once again as he dipped you in front of the Christmas tree. And like the photos in Nancy’s albums, that was a picture you would look back on and smile, a picture that would hang on the wall for years to come in your home together. 


End file.
